Miranda Cosgrove Swims with Dolphins in New Oceana PSA

Despicable Me and iCarly actress urges government to protect dolphins from seismic testing

March 05, 2014 --

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --Today, Oceana released its latest public service announcement (PSA) starring actress, singer and ocean lover, Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly and Despicable Me. Oceana and Cosgrove traveled to South Bimini in the Bahamas to film a PSA that highlights the need to protect dolphins and other marine life from the threat of seismic airgun blasts in the Atlantic Ocean.

"When I first entered the water, the dolphins were playing with each other, swimming side by side, and they were constantly singing to each other I could hear it! After a while they started to approach me and I could feel them look me in the eye. It was one of the best experiences of my life," commented Cosgrove. "Swimming with wild dolphins made it so clear that these intelligent and social animals need their use of sound to survive, and I'm so happy to be working with Oceana to protect them."

Dolphins are highly social and intelligent animals that depend on sound to communicate, eat, reproduce, socialize and live. But their song is threatened by seismic airgun testing, a form of oil and gas exploration that amounts to repetitive dynamite-like blasts in the ocean. These blasts are 100,000 times more intense than the sound emitted from a jet engine and occur every 10 seconds for days to weeks on end. This constant disturbance threatens dolphins, fish, and other marine life along the Atlantic Coast.

Just last week, the United States government released a final proposal that would open an area twice the size of California (from Delaware to Florida) to seismic airgun testing, as a first step to dirty and dangerous offshore drilling. By the government's own estimates, seismic airgun testing on the East Coast could injure as many as 138,500 dolphins and whales and disrupt their vital behaviors like feeding, mating and communicating more than 13.5 million times.

"With the help of supporters like Miranda Cosgrove, we can stop destructive practices like seismic testing and protect marine life, like dolphins, all around the world," said Oceana CEO Andy Sharpless. "As the largest international organization focused solely on protecting our oceans, Oceana is best suited to achieve these kinds of policy victories the oceans need to ensure they remain abundant and productive for future generations."

There is hope we can stop unnecessary and damaging seismic airgun testing from occurring and protect dolphins, whales and other sea life. Join @Oceana and @MirandaCosgrove and please share this important PSA with #dolphinsong to @BarackObama and tell him to protect dolphins and whales in the Atlantic Ocean, and to stop seismic airgun testing before it starts.